Eritrean refugees protest in support of renegade soldiers

Eritrean refugees residing in Ethiopia burn portraits of President of Eritrea, Isaias Afewerki

Addis Ababa (Reuters) - Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia demonstrated on Saturday in support of soldiers who forced state media in the Eritrean capital Asmara to call for all political prisoners to be freed.
Dissident Eritrean soldiers with tanks stormed the information ministry on January 21 and obliged the director general of state television to appeal for the prisoners' release.

Between 5,000 and 10,000 political prisoners are held in the country of 6 million people, the U.N. human rights chief said last year, accusing Eritrea of torture and summary executions.

Eritrean opposition activists in neighboring Ethiopia said there was growing dissent within the army, Africa's second biggest, especially over economic hardship.

Ethiopia's Edris and Godfay take the Cinque Mulini honours

Ethiopia got a winning double at the 81st edition of the famous Cinque Mulini cross country race in the Italian town of San Vittore Olona, an IAAF Cross Country Permit Meeting, with 2012 World Junior Championships 5000m gold medallist Muktar Edris and his compatriot Afera Godfay taking the honours on Sunday (3).
Edris came out on top of a hard-fought battle over 10.3km with Kenya's 18 year-old Albert Rop by just one second, 30:08 to 30:09. In the women’s 6.45km race, Godfay was a more decisive winner in 21:56, beating Kenya's Eunice Kales by 16 seconds.
Rop unable to rattle Edris
A big group led by Rop and featuring all the favourites Edris, Uganda's Thomas Ayeko, Kenya's Bernard Rotich, Poland's Krisztian Zalewksi and the Italians Mohammed El Mounim, Gianmarco Buttazzo and Bernard Dematteis were at the front after the first of two short laps.
The race heated up during the second circuit when Rop, Rotich, Ayeko and Edris pulled away from the rest of the field to form the leading quartet.
Rop, who won at the Diekirch IAAF Cross Country Permit meeting in Luxembourg last Sunday, took a slight lead on the first of four big laps with 12 minutes on the clock and continued to stay in the front for most of the race.
After four laps, with just two big laps remaining, Rop and Edris had a small but decisive one second advantage over 2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships junior men's silver medallist Ayeko and 2012 Cinque Mulini runner up Rotich.
On the penultimate lap, Rop and Edris edged further away from the two men behind them and at the bell had a two-second gap over Ayeko who, in turn, was now nine seconds in front of Rotich.
On the final lap, the gap between the leading pair and the rest continued to grow as Ayeko struggled. Rop ran in the front for most of the last lap and tried to break away from Edris, but it was all to no avail as the latter stayed on his heels before kicking for home in the final straight.
Rotich overtook Ayeko midway around late on the final lap and took third place by four seconds in 30:41.

Edris, who has just turned 19, has now completed an impressive winter campaign in which he scored the hat-trick in the major Italian cross country races in less than a month, winning the Campaccio in San Giorgio su Legnano, the Vallagarina in Rovereto and now the Cinque Mulini.
“I really enjoy running in Italy. I won three cross country races and finished second (on the roads) in the Giro di Trento and in the Boclassic in Bolzano. I am now planning to run the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships,” said a happy Edris.

Ethiopia's Gelana named 2012 AIMS female World Athlete of the Year

President Emeritus of AIMS Hiroaki Chosa, Tiki Gelana and Vice President of the Japanese Athletics Federation Dr Keisuke Sawaki (AIMS) (C) Copyright
   

Ethiopia’s London 2012 Olympic Games Marathon champion Tiki Gelana was named as the female AIMS/ASICS World Athlete of the Year for 2012 in Marugame, Japan, on Sunday (3).

President Emeritus of AIMS Hiroaki Chosa and AIMS Board Member and Vice President of the Japanese Athletics Federation Dr Keisuke Sawaki presented Gelana with the acclaimed Golden Shoe Trophy during an awards ceremony after she had won the Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon earlier in the day.

Gelana, 25, becomes the first Ethiopian women to win the AIMS/ASICS World Athlete of the Year Award. She joins her male compatriots Gezahenge Abera (2000) and Haile Gebrselassie (2006, 2007 & 2008) in winning this prestigious award.

She started 2012 with a runaway win and personal best of 1:08:48 in the Marugame Half Marathon but that was just a warm-up for a decisive five-minute victory in the Rotterdam Marathon, where she became the fifth woman to break 2:19 for the distance when she ran a national record of 2:18:58.

Gebrhiwet gets the plaudits, three world leads in Boston

Boston, USA - Fans who packed the Reggie Lewis Track & Field Facility here were treated to three world-leading marks, a world junior record, two meeting records and American high school and junior records at the 18th New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on Saturday (2), the only IAAF Indoor Permit Meeting in the United States this year.
The most impressive mark came right at the end of the evening in a thrilling men's 3000m race. Ethiopian teenager Hagos Gebrhiwet matched strides with US Olympic Games 10,000m silver medallist Galen Rupp through the first 2000 metres before boldly moving into the lead. 
The 18 year-old, who finished 11th in the Olympic Games 5000m in London, broke away from Rupp over the last kilometre with a powerful surge before hitting the tape in 7:32.87.
His mark was a meeting record, 2013 world-lead, and a new World junior record, just eclipsing the 7:32.89 run by Kenya's Isiah Koech in Lievin last year. Close behind him, the crowd roared as Rupp clocked a personal best 7:33.67, just 1.24 seconds off of Bernard Lagat's American record.
"We don't worry about times," said Alberto Salazar, who coaches Rupp and Britain’s double Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah.  "Galen would have liked to break that American record today, but he's just going to go in and compete.  If the race is right he might break it."

Saladin Said Included in Africa’s rising stars list of Eurosport

We have not referred to anyone plying their trade in Europe or a major global league, meaning Cape Verde and Burkina Faso’s surprise packages and the likes of Ghana’s Christian Atsu and Nigeria’s Ahmed Musa are not listed.

We have also operated a strict U25 cut-off point, which excludes African-based revelations such as Mpeko Issama (DR Congo, 26) and Walid Hichri (Tunisia, 26).

So here are out top five African-based youngsters from this tournament, with Nigeria’s Godfrey Oboabona a clear candidate for a move to Europe.

Bewketu Siyum London :)))) Must watch

Bewketu Seyoum (Ethiopia) and Chris Beckett his translator reading for MPT

     

Ethiopia have warning for SA

Striking Zambia, Adane Girma

ETHIOPIA have issued a stern warning to Bafana Bafana: forget about going to Brazil for the 2014 World Cup.
Captain Gebreyes Debebe is adamant the Walya Antelopes will finish the ongoing preliminary stages on top of the group.

Ethiopia lead the group with four points after beating Central African Republic 2-0 through a brace by Saladin Seidi in June last year.

The Ethiopia national football team—nicknamed "Walia Antelopes"-The fare·well

 Central African Republic are second on the log, with three points, with Bafana Bafana third (two points) and Botswana fourth (one).

"We may have not qualified for the quarterfinals of the 2013 Afcon finals, but we are happy with our performance overall," said Debebe.

Making their first appearance in the Nations Cup in 31 years, Ethiopia had a chance to reach the quarterfinals on the last day of their group campaign. They needed a win over Nigeria to book themselves a place in the knockout stages but went down 2-0 in a game where they showed no respect for the once-feared Super Eagles.

"Bafana Bafana will also fall when we meet in Ethiopia in June, as was the case with Central African Republic," said Debebe yesterday.

"We have laid a solid foundation at the Afcon finals, we will do well in the World Cup qualifiers. Gone are the days where Ethiopia only performed well in global athletics. We are going to shock many people.

"After qualifying for the 2013 Afcon finals, our next target is to go to Brazil in 2014."

Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi is one of the legends who were impressed by the east African country in the Afcon finals.

"If they can keep that team for two years, Ethiopia will be unstoppable," Keshi warned.

"They gave us a tough time. I also saw them when they drew with reigning champions Zambia.
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